1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a color copying apparatus in which color-resolved images of an original image are sequentially formed through color resolving filter means, and more particularly to a color copying apparatus which enables the image forming process to be easily set up in accordance with the color to be reproduced and which permits good image reproduction to be achieved at high speeds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The color copying apparatuses heretofore proposed have been based on any one of various systems such as the fax type which involves the steps of color-resolving a multi-colored original image into color components by red, green and blue filters, effecting exposure and development on photosensitive paper for each of the color-resolved images and fixing a final image on the paper, and the image transfer type which involves the steps of effecting image reproductions sequentially on a single photosensitive medium for each color component and transferring the formed images onto transfer paper in superposed relationship or effecting image formations simultaneously on a single photosensitive medium or on a plurality of such mediums for each color component and transferring the formed images onto transfer paper in superposed relationship, and thereafter fixing the final image.
An example of the apparatus in which color-resolved images are formed in superposed relationship directly on photosensitive paper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,468 by Sigurd W. Johnson (filed Mar. 30, 1967 and patented Sept. 16, 1969). In this apparatus, photosensitive paper is fixedly disposed and may be scanned by process means to ensure good registration.
An example of the apparatus in which color-resolved images are transferred onto transfer paper in superposed relationship is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,607 by Howard C. Davis et al. (filed June 4, 1969 and patented May 22, 1973). In such apparatus, flash exposure is adopted for the speed-up of copying and therefore, a belt-like photosensitive medium is employed to provide an exposure plane.
Besides these, other various designs of apparatus have been proposed and in any of them, it is an ideal to realize color reproduction with good registration and good color balance and at high speeds, whereas it has often been the case that efforts for good registration have sacrificed the copying speed and efforts for higher copying speeds have sacrificed the registration or the color balance. Further, color reproduction, as compared with the conventional black-and-white reproduction, requires the number of controls to be increased with the number of colors and this might lead to greater complexity of the program mechanism for changing over the color cycles. It would be very useful if it were possible to select a number of colors as desired and obtain a desired color reproduction, but in fact there are few or no practical apparatus which can carry out color reproduction through a simple control program.
Objects of the present invention will therefore be appreciated from the various points enumerated below and the following detailed description made of a specific embodiment.